Man of Honor, A

by Tina Leonard

  "You want a quickie marriage?" All his traditional values clamored a protest.

  "I don't think we have a whole lot of time."

  He hated hearing words he knew were probably more true than any of them wanted to believe.

  "I suppose driving to Mexico would be safer than being in an airport." He didn't want her anywhere near an airport, he realized suddenly. Not with international assassins after them.

  He stared at the fine blush suddenly blooming on Tessa's cheeks. His brother was the one with the fast reflexes. Cord was slower of action. He thought through everything carefully and benefited from logical, practical choices.

  Hunt lived on the knife edge of time and found satisfaction.

  Cord wanted Tessa. He didn't have a chance even if the circumstances were normal. It would make this whole horrible subterfuge so much more palatable if... "Tessa, I have to ask you... are you still in love with Hunt?" he made himself say. His stomach clenched, shielding his emotions from her answer.

  "I think about him all the time."

  Her voice was a whisper in the dimly lit room and barely discernible over the honky-tonk blues song playing on the stereo. But he heard her.

  "As much as you think about him all the time, I'm sure, Cord, praying he's safe. Worrying that if the colonel could be gotten to, Hunt could be, too, I guess. He is the father of my child after all." Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. "But what was between us ended

  in Madrid. And I don't look back and wish it still existed." Her chin rose in resistance to something he couldn't name. "As much as I try not to, I find myself thinking about you more often... than I probably should."

  Her honesty caught at him; he could see in her eyes that she hadn't said the words willingly. She was giving him a piece of herself when so many pieces had been taken from her.

  It was a start, and he could live with that. "I'll go warm up the truck," he said.

  "Mira." Rossi’s command brought Salvador to stare at the television set. The camera angle panned to stark grayish-white trees behind a reporter with windblown hair and ruddy cheeks.

  "He is very cold," Salvador commented with a grin.

  "Not as cold as the colonel," Rossi said.

  This made Salvador laugh. He gleefully observed the yellow crime-scene tape, disappointed when the news reporter returned to talk about something else.

  "Senior Vaquero definitely knows we are here now. It is time to make our move."

  Rossi hit the off button on the remote.

  "Yes. Let our contact know we will need transportation for three within twenty-four hours.

  They went quietly to the woods on foot, stealthy in the darkness. The police were gone though the yellow tape remained as a protective cordon where the crime had been committed.

  Salvador felt calm, driven. All the months of planning were worth it for tonight. The feeling of helplessness at losing his brother was erased with the action of moving forward with the plan.

  Where the tree house had been, they found a stump. Rossi shone a flashlight on the area around it, revealing piles of sawdust. Salvador jerked his head toward the house. As they walked to the edge of the clearing, he put the night-vision goggles to his face.

  The old woman stood outside with a tall woman holding the puppy. Swiveling his head, he could see a form moving beyond the corral.

  Senor Vaquero. He moved back to the women on the porch. The old one went inside, leaving her taller companion alone. Salvador frowned behind the goggles. Who was this woman?

  She bent to put the puppy to the ground, and suddenly, Salvador knew with an intense ache that it was she, short of her beautiful, light-catching hair.

  "Caramba," he muttered.

  "Mande ?"

  Salvador shook his head. His fantasies about touching the long, beautiful hair were extinguished as if doused by water. Sometimes he'd even thought about wrapping that golden cord around her neck, to watch her eyes widen with terror as he choked her.

  That would almost have been payment enough. He would have to find another way to make her pay. She stood slowly, her hand going to touch her stomach before she opened her coat.

  Something was wrong because she straightened her back again, flexing it, her hand slipping inside her coat. He stared through the goggles so hard his eyes burned, and in a moment, he was rewarded by seeing her put her other hand into her coat, framing her stomach under the glare of the porch light. She rubbed her belly, comforting it, and Salvador smiled.

  This was his reward for his patience. The size of her stomach meant there was one additional thing guaranteed to make the Hunter suffer - his woman and his child were more than Salvador had ever hoped for. A baby ensured that the golden woman would do whatever they wanted her to do without protest.

  "We can't leave you here," Tessa told Nan.

  "Me and Messrs. Smith & Wesson know how to entertain unwanted company," Nan stated.

  But what if Nan decided to have one of her moments with Johnnie Walker whiskey? If the colonel had been lured or dragged from his car by professionals, one little old lady sitting in a house was no match, rifle or not.

  "Please, Nan. I'd feel so much better if you'd go to Mama's. "

  "I don't get along with your mama." Nan waved her off, and Tessa glanced at Cord for help.

  "Did once, don't now, and don't care."

  She reminded Tessa of a cat, hissing and ready to fight. Nan maybe weighed a hundred pounds.

  "Nan, listen to me. Everybody's doing something they don't want to do to keep out of the

  sheriffs line of fire. "

  "I could have told you the sheriff was bad to the core. Him and all his deputies are on the payroll of the richest, most dishonest scalawags in Crookseye." Nan shot them a bellicose glance. "But that's your problem, not mine. Whoever murdered your friend doesn't know anything about me. I'll be just fine once Cord drives me over to my own house. Locked up tidily, puppy-sitting Ellie, everything will be just fine."

  "I know Mama drives you up the wall," Tessa said, trying one last time to convince her.

  "She's not the world's easiest human being. But I can't get married without telling her because she is my mother. It wouldn't be right. I want to see her before I go" she swallowed painfully "and hope she'll give me her love to go on."

  "Not much chance of that," Nan warned.

  "It might make a difference if you were there. I could use your support," she pleaded, using the thin excuse as a last hope to persuade Nan. Tessa met Cord's gaze, seeing nothing she could read in his dark gray eyes. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to Nan.

  "She is my mother, he is going to be my husband, and we are having a baby. I've got to give her one last chance to accept the situation," she said, her voice falling. "And her grandchild. I can't just drive past her house on the way out of town without giving... without trying."

  "I think Tessa's idea is a good one." Cord moved to touch Nan's shoulder, the gesture one of love for someone he thought of as a second mother. "It would give us both peace of mind. There's really no place else we can put you and Ellie where we know you'll be safely tucked away."

  Nan clucked her teeth.

  "What a bitter old fart of a woman," she said heavily. "All right. I'll go, just because you've got enough on your plate without having to worry about Ellie and me."

  "I'd so appreciate it. Nan," Tessa said on a breath of relief. "We'll take extra precautions to make certain we're not followed."

  "We'll be safe because just the fury from Hester's dragonlike countenance would slay them at the door. Turn them right into stone," she muttered, getting up to follow them to Cord's truck.

  "I know it's not easy." Tessa patted her on the back as they walked from the house.

  "Quite frankly, I'm not expecting Mama to do anything more than throw me out."

  "She won't throw me out," Nan said sternly, issuing a vexed expletive that could have melted snow. "One tough old bird to another, I've got a few things to say to your
<
br />   mama. And she's gonna listen!"

  To Tessa's surprise, Hester didn't come to the door immediately. Usually, Hester was quick to answer in case any of her customers popped over with a bill payment. The porch light was off - another strange thing. Hester wasn't a considerate soul as much as one who feared

  litigation should any of her customers trip on her porch in the darkness and decide to sue.

  It took a second impatient ring of the doorbell before Hester called,

  "Who's there? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

  Cord put his hands on Tessa's shoulders, giving them a squeeze, bracing her for Hester's venom. Tessa enjoyed the support for the slightest of moments.

  "Mama, it's Tessa."

  "Open up the door, you old hag. It's freezing out here!" Nan shouted.

  Tessa waited, astounded, as the chain slid off the lock and the door opened a crack.

  "Are you alone?" Hester asked.

  "Are you deaf?" Nan demanded. "Didn't you hear me cussing you? No, she's not alone!"

  "Cord is with us."

  "Well, come in, then. Hurry." Hester opened the door and shooed all three in, never turning on the porch light so they could see where they were going. She quickly locked the door again, three locks shooting home as Tessa tried to steer Nan into the foyer.

  Nan shrugged her off. "I'm not helpless. I can see," she whispered. "So this is your crypt, Hester," she said more loudly.

  Hester ignored that and led the way down a dark hallway to a small den. The curtains were pulled tightly shut. A small lamp glowed on a scarred end table. There was little decoration, unlike Nan's cheery home. No pictures, no mementos of past cherished memories. A black-and-white TV sent the room into light and then dark with erratic images.

  Still, Hester didn't usually cloister herself with such unwelcoming darkness and caution. Unease sent shivers up Tessa's spine.

  "Mama, why are all the lights off? Why are you sitting in here with the doors locked?"

  Hester seated herself in a wing chair, her body tense.

  Shocked, Tessa noticed the handgun within easy reach on the scarred table, in the shadows where the lamp's light didn't reach.

  "Sheriff Grimes left a little while ago," she said softly, her frightened gaze on Tessa.

  "He says you're in big trouble."

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Trouble?" Tessa glanced at Cord, startled. "What did Sheriff Grimes mean by that?"

  Hester's eyes were wide as she stared at her daughter.

  "He says you're mixed up in some bad stuff. That the murder of that colonel had something to do with Hunt. He seemed to imply that you might have done it because Hunt wanted you to. Or that Cord did it and you're covering for him out of loyalty to the father of your child."

  "Preposterous!" Nan exclaimed. "Tessa has barely left the house even if she were capable of murder, which she isn't.

  Sheriff Grimes himself said that the colonel was killed using a method yet to be determined other than it involved contact. Not something a gentle woman like Tessa would be trained to do or even could do. And Cord has been with us every moment he could spare. The sheriff was just fishing. "

  "The whole matter is preposterous anyway," Hester agreed, her eyes on her daughter.

  "My feeling is that the sheriff wants a scapegoat so that TV coverage doesn't get too thick around here. A few nosy reporters, some determined military folks, and maybe the sheriff gets exposed for the sneaky shyster he is. That would make a serious dent in his den of

  thieves. He needs to find someone to take the blame, and my daughter is vulnerable. Tessa, you've got to get away from here unless you want to have your baby born in jail." Her voice broke at the end as she sank back against the chair. "I didn't ever dream I'd encourage my daughter to become a fugitive from the law, but I honestly think there is trouble brewing in

  Crookseye."

  "I..." Chills ran through Tessa like cold snakes. "I came to say goodbye, Mama."

  Hester nodded.

  "Say it quick and be on your way, then. I'm sure he's gone looking for you." She knotted a tissue between her fingers so hard it tore. "You shouldn't stay here any longer than you have to in case he comes back and finds you talking to me."

  "It doesn't make sense," Cord said. "Sheriff Grimes acted like he thought I had done the colonel in to protect Hunt."

  "He's trying to scare Hester into confessing anything she knows," Nan interjected, her eyes narrowed as she stared at her longtime nemesis. "Because she loves her daughter, she might start blabbing everything she knows about the Greer boys to save Tessa's neck. But you didn't fall for his bluff, did you, Hester?"

  "No. I sure didn't." Hester's voice was a whisper in the dimly lit room. "Grimes is evil, and I could see the desperation in his eyes. He'll do anything to keep his little kingdom in Crookseye securely in the palms of his dirty hands." Her gaze suddenly fastened on Cord.

  "Where are you taking her?"

  "To Mexico. We're getting married."

  Hester's gaze ricocheted from Cord to Tessa and back again.

  "Do you love her?"

  Time stood still for Tessa as the question hung in the stuffy room.

  "Mama, we have to do this," she quickly answered before Cord had a chance. "Grimes is going to make this look the way he wants to. He doesn't want to find the colonel's killer. If we get married, I can't be forced to implicate my husband." She turned her head to stare at Cord before facing her mother. "It doesn't matter whether we love each other. This is something we have to do."

  Hester pursed her lips as she looked at both of them for a long time.

  "Get going, then," Hester commanded again. "Before he comes back and finds you here. Or worse, arrests you for something only his nefarious mind could fathom."

  Tessa sank to her knees at her mother's feet.

  "I guess I was hoping you'd give us your blessing."

  Hester frowned.

  "You don't need it."

  "I do." Tessa waited, shocked when she felt Cord bend to one knee beside her.

  "We do," he said. "This isn't the way I want it, but I'll do my best by your daughter. I

  would like to ask you for her hand in marriage and for your blessing on it."

  Hester's mouth worked for a moment as she stared at Cord.

  "You're taking a lot on yourself, you know. You'll be a father."

  "I consider that a matter of honor. I look forward to raising a child with Tessa."

  "She's a wild one," Hester warned. "She never would do anything I asked her. Not try to be popular, not make friends with the right people, not date the boys I wanted her to."

  Hester burst into sudden tears, her wrinkled lids reddening. "I wanted so much more for you than I had," she told her daughter.

  Tessa silently put her hand over her mother's shaking fingers that still clenched the torn tissue.

  "I was fine. I only wanted your love."

  "I couldn't," Hester said on a hoarse whisper. "I couldn't tell you that your father never married me. He was a military man like Hunt, always gone. Always leaving me here to wait.

  When he found out I was having a baby, he..." Her lips trembled as she blew her nose. Tessa reached to hand her mother a fresh tissue.

  "He never came back," she whispered raggedly. "He never came back. And you were born, all rosy and pretty blue eyes... I wanted so much for you. But you always went the opposite

  way, no matter what. There wasn't much I could give you. I wore a wedding ring, pretended your father had married me during some romantic rendezvous. And that he died on a training mission overseas. It was wrong, but I bought a medal from an estate sale and kept it out next to your father's picture."

  She shook with the emotion of her confession, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "I wanted so much for my poor little baby girl, and then Hunt started calling on you..." Unable to finish, she took a moment to pull herself together as Tessa patted her mother's knee. Cord put an arm around Tessa, rubbing his p
alm up and down her arm.

  "I wish you hadn't been so hard on yourself, Mama. None of that would have hurt me. Not like all the years of feeling you didn't want me did."

  Hester nodded. "I realize that now." She sniffled, suddenly glaring at Nan. "I suppose you're leaving her here to irritate me like a splinter in my skin," she snapped.

  "Yes, you old fool," Nan said, pulling a chair over to sit by Hester. "I'm staying right here to cuss you for being such a silly woman."

  "I wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't stolen the one man I loved," Hester flung back.

  "You wouldn't be in this mess if you weren't so stubborn. You didn't have to go rushing off to the first man who winked at you, and you didn't have to spend your life trying to make your daughter perfect. " She nodded to Tessa and Cord. "Go. I'll take care of her."

  Tessa stood, her own eyes teary.

  "It's going to be okay, Mama," she said softly, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.

  At the last second before she pulled back, her mother's thin arms reached out to encircle her.

  "I'm sorry," she said against the side of Tessa's face.

  Tessa closed her eyes, nodding. Then she stepped away. Her heart beat faster as Cord stood also, beckoned by Hester to come closer. He bent to give her an awkward hug.

  "You are a man of honor," she said. "But I sense that there's more to you than that."

  "I don't know if there is or not," he said wryly.

  "Oh, I think there is." She released him, rising to follow them to the door. "Wait."

  She hurried down the hall to her bedroom, returning a moment later.

  "I had no real wedding ring of my own, so I have nothing to give you except the family Bible." Drawing in a deep breath, she placed it in Tessa's hands. "Since you're starting the next branch of the family tree, I hope you'll hold it when you get married."

  "I will." Tessa thanked her mother with her eyes, her heart lighter than it had been in a long time.

  "You do have my blessing," Hester said to Cord. "And my best wishes." She opened the door after looking at both of them for a long second. "You can leave the ratty old woman and the flea-bitten hound with me for safekeeping. They'll be here when you get back."